Voices from your squadmates implore you to proceed in such authenticity that you swear you must share the room with them, sitting at your gaming rig. The angst garnered from the sound of bullets whizzing by and striking the wall next to you is unmatched. Every weapon fires with such power and force that you swear it’s to blame for your tinnitus. The Battlefield franchise has spent years on the top of the heap with its lifelike audio effects, and the newest iteration carries the torch with pride. Even on my modest rig unable to handle the highest settings, the graphics impress at every turn. From the textures to the draw distance, rolling waves to trees succumbing to the wind, get used to picking your jaw up off the ground. The Frostbite 3 engine raises the bar for realistic visuals in this setting. There are good things to discuss: Battlefield 4 looks stunning.

This time is no different don’t get your hopes up for an overhauled experience. But perhaps in an effort to compete with rival shooter Call of Duty, 2011’s Battlefield 3 ushered in the first single-player campaign of the core franchise - the critical reception of which was lukewarm at best.

The Battlefield franchise hangs its hat on large-scale multiplayer warfare. But there’s nothing stopping us from discussing the single-player campaign in the meantime. As such, the full review is still in progress until some quality multiplayer hours are logged. However, it is difficult to properly critique such a multiplayer-centric title without plenty of time spent in fully populated servers across all maps. Before Battlefield 4 pre-orders unlock everywhere, I have been playing through the game in an effort to provide a comprehensive review.

Battlefield 4 campaign unlocks